Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rejected the idea of a 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, claiming in an interview with ABC News on May 10 that it would be "an advantage" for Ukraine.
"Our involvement in the war was justifiable, and this belongs to our sovereign rights," North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un said. "I regard this as part of the sacred mission we must execute for our brothers and comrades-in-arms."
"We have a plan B and a plan C. But our focus is plan A, the essence of which is to get everyone's support" for Ukraine's accession, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.
"(T)he presence at the Victory Parade of a country that bombs cities, hospitals, and daycares, and which has caused the deaths and injuries of over a million people over three years, is a shame," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
"According to the participants of the performances, their goal is to remind the civilized world of the barbaric actions of Moscow, which for many years and decades has systematically violated international law," a source in Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) told the Kyiv Independent.
"I have great hope that an agreement for a ceasefire in Ukraine will be reached this weekend," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on May 9, shortly before traveling to Kyiv alongside the leaders of France, Poland, and the U.K.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will arrive in Kyiv early on May 10.
The United States embassy in Kyiv on May 9 issued a warning that Russia could launch "a potentially significant" attack in the coming days, despite Putin's self-declared Victory Day "truce."
The sanctioned oil tankers have transported over $24 billion in cargo since 2024, according to Downing Street. The U.K. has now sanctioned more shadow fleet vessels than any other country.
Service members of the 117th Brigade of the Territorial Defence Forces walk through a forest after operating a Ukrainian-made 120mm mortar toward Russian positions on March 9, 2025, in Sumy Oblast, Ukraine. (Diego Fedele/Getty Images)
Russian forces are attempting to establish a foothold near Novenke, a Ukrainian village in Sumy Oblast near the border with Russia's Kursk Oblast, State Border Guard spokesperson Andrii Demchenko said on air on March 10.
"These are small assault units, composed of a few people. They try to penetrate our territory, accumulate forces, and advance further into Ukraine, probably to cut off logistical routes," Demchenko said on national television.
Moscow's troops have been reportedly trying to push toward Novenke, a village lying 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the regional center, Sumy, for several weeks.
The battlefield situation at the Ukraine-Russia border areas of the Sumy and Kursk oblasts as of March 10, 2025, according to DeepState. The village of Novenke marked with a black symbol, the Ukrainian salient in Kursk Oblast marked in blue. (DeepState/Open Street Maps)
Ukrainian artillery and drone units continue attacking Russian troops, preventing them from accumulating forces, the spokesperson added.
Concerns about the Ukrainian operation in Kursk Oblast, ongoing since August 2024, have mounted over the weekend amid reports of Russian advances. The development came shortly after the U.S. cut off military and intelligence support for Ukraine, allegedly to push Kyiv to the negotiating table.
A potential loss of the Kursk salient or Russian advances in Sumy Oblast would likely weaken Ukraine's negotiating position as it prepares for initial rounds of talks with the U.S. in Saudi Arabia.
Russian forces have begun collapsing the northern part of the Ukrainian Kursk salient, while destroyed bridges complicate Ukraine's ability to withdraw toward the key town of Sudzha, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think-tank said on March 9.
Moscow has also reportedly deployed North Korean troops in the renewed attack in Kursk Oblast.
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.
Abbey Fenbert
